Queensland Travel Guide

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Queensland life is the Australian cliché: beaches, barbecues, wilderness, endless sunshine and cold beer. Known for its laid-back vibe and miles of golden beaches, this wonderfully diverse state delights in surprising visitors with its hedonistic-riches.

Besides beaches, Queensland is sated with ancient rainforests, parks and historic towns. The Whitsundays, Cairns and Mackay are ideal to visit for a taste of tropical Australia, while Gulf and Western Downs give a flavor of the outback.

Brisbane is Australia's third-largest city, and zipping between its sights via its main arterial waterway is a sublime pleasure in itself.

Adventure sports ride high in Queensland, and here you can sail, white-water raft, paraglide, and delve into the natural underwater wonder that is the Great Barrier Reef, awash with turquoise tints and sealife.

Geography

Seven times the size of the UK, Queensland is known as the ‘Sunshine State', priding itself on an average of more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Within its borders lay the Great Barrier Reef, miles of golden sandy beaches, national park forests, vast plains, lush rainforests, forested mountains and extensive wilderness areas.

The coastal plains of the north reach out to the Gulf of Carpentaria. East of the Great Dividing Range there are a range of offshore islands which comprise the Great Barrier Reef and other coral formations such as the Whitsunday Islands.

Tropical islands and national parks lie north of Brisbane while the Gold Coast reaches south. Further inland the ochre-red outback beckons, with former copper and uranium mining towns on the route west to Mt Isa.